The long awaited Mortal Kombat theatrical reboot is expected to undergo indeterminate delays as a result of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. Producer Todd Garner commented on COVID-19's impact, which pushed back scheduled reshoots and delayed rumored plans for a teaser trailer. Read on for more info:
Theatrical release of Mortal Kombat was brought forward to January 2021 as of late last year, but according to Garner, will now officially be rescheduled once cinemas have begun staging a wide re-opening to the public.
The threat of peer to peer community transmission of the potentially fatal COVID-19 coronavirus strain has led to theatres closing around the world amid restrictions on public indoor gatherings. Australia, where the film began shooting last year, imposed harsh public lockdown measures back in March, when re-shoots were scheduled to begin, according to the Broken Road Productions producer's tweets.
Well, I thought by the casts’ social media you would’ve figured out we’re shooting a few more days. We’d always planned for it & thought we’d do it in March. The pandemic had other plans. We won’t have a release date for the movie until theaters re-open. Same for trailer.
— Todd Garner (@Todd_Garner) November 10, 2020
Yes. We had always planned this additional photography. Unfortunately a global pandemic slowed us down. I’m disappointed too.
— Todd Garner (@Todd_Garner) October 31, 2020
A wide slate of cinematic tentpoles have faced existential crisis as they fail to find a stable release window. Christopher Nolan's Tenet broke early from the back in August, enduring a modestly successful $350 million box office. The director hopes this won't leave studios gun shy, telling Los Angeles Times, "I am worried that the studios are drawing the wrong conclusions from our release — that rather than looking at where the film has worked well and how that can provide them with much needed revenue, they’re looking at where it hasn’t lived up to pre-COVID expectations and will start using that as an excuse to make exhibition take all the losses from the pandemic instead of getting in the game and adapting — or rebuilding our business, in other words."
Today Warner Bros announced a different strategy for Wonder Woman 1984, which will open domestically in available theatres December 25th, with a simultaneous streaming debut on HBO Max. It will open to international markets December 16th, where HBO Max is not yet available.
The superhero sequel is expected to concede a significant portion of 2017's $821.8 million Wonder Woman box office, but according to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Brothers has remained in dialogue with cinema chain AMC to ensure some lifeline is provided. Director Patty Jenkins and star Gal Gadot urge those who can to see it on the big screen as intended. The multi-platform release may provide a future model available to Mortal Kombat, if successful.
[Related Article: Mortal Kombat Movie Set References MK11 Fighters]
Seres co-creator and NetherRealm Studios Creative Director Ed Boon recently revealed that he's seen a cut of the film. He spoke to the difficulties facing any theatrical release this year, but had no further clues to offer.
Mortal Kombat is directed by Simon McQuoid, with James Wan on board as producer since 2015. The cast includes The Dark Knight actor Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Tadanobu Asano and Mehcad Brooks as Raiden & Jax, and Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade. Find and discuss more news from the Mortal Kombat movie reboot in the Media & Merchandise forum! Special thanks to kommunity members HurraPowers and gorostilllives for posting about this story.
